AL Player Analysis - July 14, 2019

Max Kepler went 2-for-5 with two solo homers Saturday against the Indians. Kepler continued his recent hot streak against Trevor Bauer by homering in his first two at-bats on Saturday, giving him five consecutive at-bats with a home run against Bauer. The long balls were Kepler's first of July but gave him 23 overall, as he's increased his home run total every year since debuting in 2015. Since going 0-for-8 in an 18-inning game on June 27, the 26-year-old has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games. Not only is his .264 average a 40-point improvement over last year, but it's also a career high.

Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs on Saturday vs. the Dodgers. Bogaerts was the only bright spot for Boston in its 11-2 loss to the Dodgers, as he got the Sox on the board in the fourth with a solo homer before roping an RBI single in the sixth. The long ball was Bogaerts' 19th of the year, putting him just four shy of his career high from last year. He's also hitting .297 -- his highest average since he batted .320 in 2015. Bogaerts is on pace to exceed 100 RBIs for the second year in a row and should score 100-plus runs as well, making him an elite fantasy shortstop.

Aaron Judge went 4-for-5 with an RBI on Saturday vs. the Blue Jays. Judge accounted for half of New York's hit total in its 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays, none of which went for extra bases. His last hit plated the Yankees' only run, bringing Aaron Hicks around to score in the ninth. The game was Judge's first four-hit effort of the season, snapping him out of a 4-for-24 rut to begin July. The strong showing at the plate raised his average to .290, which would be a career high for the 27-year-old slugger.

Trevor Bauer racked up 11 strikeouts Saturday, but still lost to the Twins after allowing three runs on six hits and three walks over six innings. Despite throwing 75 of his 117 pitches for strikes and notching his second-highest strikeout total of the season, Bauer was saddled with the loss and watched his record fall to 8-7. All three of his runs allowed came via solo homers in the first two innings, including two by Max Kepler. That matched Bauer's season high in home runs allowed, although he's now given up 20 on the season. With 160 strikeouts and counting, he's on pace to blow away his career high of 221 from last year.

Mike Trout went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer Saturday vs. the Mariners, helping power the Angels to a 9-2 victory with his third-inning dinger. Trout's long ball was already his 30th of the year -- tops in the American League. He leads the Junior Circuit in a host of other categories as well, including RBIs (75), total bases (207) and OPS (1.124). Trout is well on his way to his third MVP award as long as he stays healthy.

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Tyler is a lifelong Red Sox fan who was in the right field bleachers for David Ortiz's epic grand slam in the 2013 ALCS. He graduated from Tufts University two years later with degrees in Economics and English and currently works in finance. He has been a fantasy writer and editor for MLB.com since 2016 while also contributing to RotoWire and BaseballProspectus. He's always looking to scratch his fantasy itch, so if you need someone to fill a league he'd appreciate it if you reached out. Follow him on @PlanetMaherz